(The Center Square) – Migrants attempted to board San Diego area school buses with children still inside for two days in a row, in one case requiring parents and the bus driver to keep the migrants away. In response, the school district says buses will no longer stop when migrants are present.
Jamul-Dulzura Union School District told Fox 5 that on Tuesday afternoon, a group of three men walked in the middle of the highway tried to stop a school bus, requiring the vehicle to take evasive action. On Wednesday morning, a group of 20 migrants tried to board a school bus at a bus stop where elementary students were waiting with their parents for pickup. Parents and drivers “stepped in, keeping the migrants at bay.”
“He was really confused. He said these adults, they weren’t kids, they had backpacks on and they tried to get on our bus. And there were a lot of them,” said Nicole Cardinale, whose eight year old son was already on the bus, told the TV station.
The presence of backpacks suggests the individuals had recently crossed the border; Jamul is just inland from San Diego and just north of the California-Mexico border.
“Earlier today I notified transportation families about two recent incidents involving our school buses on Highway 94. Both incidents involved people either trying to stop or board a bus at a bus stop,” wrote school district superintendent Liz Bystedt in a letter to parents. “I want to say thank you to our bus drivers for keeping our students safe and to the parents who helped to ensure the bus was not boarded.”
Bystedt wrote that the district had already contacted law enforcement, including border patrol, about the incident. In an email to parents, Bystedt also said that buses would not be stopping at any stops where migrants are present, and that parents should follow the bus to the next migrant-free stop to pick up or drop off their children.
